> owning a Tesla one of my medium-term life goals for the environmental benefits
Sorry to jump in but just in case keep in mind that pushing an old ICE car has usually a lesser impact than buying a new one, it can take years until the difference in consumption cover the impact of the building process and the materials extraction and transport.
The real solution, at least in metro areas, is using public transport instead of driving. And that is another reason not to buy a Tesla, because of the Musk empire's ongoing crusade against public transportation. Dollars spent on Teslas are dollars available for advocating/subsidizing Loop-type and Boring Company projects that drain the public coffers for transportation infrastructure. I'm sure different people have different opinions on ethically how the anti-public-transport conflict of interest stacks up against the good done by making electric vehicles sexy, but for me they approximately cancel out and there's little virtue in buying a Tesla instead of a very efficient ICE or hybrid.
The US will never adopt public transportation as their primary means of mobility. Never.
There will be skyscrapers in the suburbs before Americans deign to ride a rail car to work en masse.
We will have AR-based work-from-home before Americans wait at a bus stop in any meaningful size cohort.
There is simply too much mistrust in those systems and too much desire for independent mobility.
Additionally, US cities are built for individual, single-rider automobiles. It sucks real bad, but even if 100% of americans decided that we hate cars and driving, we’re still stuck physically with thousands of acres built upon individual mobility and no mixed-use whatsoever, situations where you have to drive 3+km just to buy a soda.
It’s madness, and the madness is actually encoded into the physical structures as a sunk cost. We have to work with and around that in any practical way forward, which is terrible.
That's what I always say, if you want to be eco and you want to drive electric, by an electric bike.
They have tiny batteries compared to electric cars and thus an almost negligible impact in comparison, enough range for 90% of your commuting needs, can keep you moderately fit, and you still have enough money left to drive your ICE for longer stretches.
That’s not a very attractive option for those of us here in the north. Being buried in snow, slush, and ice for six months of the year makes biking very unattractive.
I live in Germany, and except for the occasional snow I find it easy to ride a bike most of the year.
And the countries further north I understand, but then those are a very small part of the world population, so I don't think the impact is that high, even if they drive ICE.
I live in Utah, and we're known for snow, yet the bike paths are clear most of the year. I bike most of the time, and honestly, I prefer biking in winter to the summer because it's easier to layer up than cool down. When it snows, I take mass transit because I hate driving or cycling in the snow.
I own a hybrid, which is a nice compromise between electric and ICE. I can go on long car trips without worrying about recharge stations and I save a ton on gas the rest of the time. I mostly use our car for shopping and family trips, and it often goes days without being used.
My bike currently isn't an ebike, but I'm considering getting a conversion kit, which is way more powerful than the ebikes available in stores (the store models need to follow the law, aftermarket parts leave that up to the user).
The best option for the environment would be going without a car at all, like many people in Europe do. Unfortunately people have created environments and societies where they are chained to car ownership.
In Europe in dense cities. In France near Paris for example you can clearly see the distinction when you go further in the countryside[1]. Anecdotical but I know very few people under 40 who own a car in Paris:
> The best option for the environment would be going without a car at all
Indeed. This is what I do (in the US). The second-best option for the environment is to buy a used car. Environmentally speaking, a used ICE car beats a new electric one.
US is not really saying enough. I live with my gf in NYC and we had no need for a car. If I got one for free I would have tried to sell it as soon as possible.
Now we live in bay area suburbs with a dog, and one car is absolutely needed if you can afford it. If we had kids it would have been almost impossible without a car.
Sorry to jump in but just in case keep in mind that pushing an old ICE car has usually a lesser impact than buying a new one, it can take years until the difference in consumption cover the impact of the building process and the materials extraction and transport.